Revival
by greenequeen
Summary: She was gone, taken from them in a moment, and then back the next. How will Rick react when the girl he loved returns- from the dead.
1. Prologue

_Beth_

Sadness, happiness, relief- those were all the emotions that were plain to see on the face of Rick Grimes at the sight of Beth Greene **alive. She made it- through everything.**

She didn't know how to feel about the look on his face. It wasn't a face someone made just because they were previously close to you or because they cared for you. It was a look she had gotten from past boyfriends, a loving look, a look from someone who loved her.

She also didn't know how to feel when she stalked down that dimly lit hallway towards her family and could feel his eyes on her when she hugged everyone, burning into the back of her skull, and how it felt when she turned to him and he bore his eyes into her with so much ferocity that she shivered.

She opened her arms to him and he pulled her into his chest, resting his chin on the top of her head. She felt the beating of his heart and the smell of his sweat mixed with walker guts and dirt, but the smell was pleasant in a strange way- she missed it.

She slowly peeled her eyes open and squinted at the brightness of the sun, her eyes having to adjust after her long and repetitive dream. She had dreams like that every night- of that day in Grady, when she saw them again, saw him.

Her and Rick never were like that- never ever. Her daddy would have never approved of it anyways. She was a teenager, and he was in his forties. She could never say that she didn't have a crush on him, for she watched him play with Judy, Carl, help out around the prison, and he was just attractive to her.

She knew he never would have felt the same about her, but that look at the hospital made her feel strange, and she never knew what to make of it.

Running her hand over her sweaty face, she pulled herself off the ground and stretched her legs, slightly becoming lightheaded.

She was shot in the head over 8 months ago, but she still got lightheaded. She still got headaches, and flashbacks. She remembered Daryl carrying her out of the hospital, putting her in the trunk of a car, and hearing the walkers stalk past the car. She didn't know how to feel- she was trapped in her own body. She couldn't move, couldn't speak, anything. Then one day she just, woke up, and she was alone. That was over 8 months ago, and she was still alone.

She wondered about them, her family, and as she walked down the path in the all too familiar woods, she grimaced. She had been travelling for weeks, and it had been days since she had eaten a substantial meal.

Before her foot hits the ground, though, she hears the snap of a branch about twenty feet away, and she draws her pocket knife, pressing herself up against the tree.

She watches the body, noticing it wasn't a walker, and her heart jumps out of her throat when she sees the all too familiar angel wings on his vest. Daryl's vest.

Clambering out from behind the tree, she starts to get closer, and she is almost to him, but before she can call out, everything goes black.

 _Rick_

He hit the woman on the head without a second thought, and he watched Daryl whip around, eyebrows furrowed at the noise.

As Daryl walked over, Rick took the weapons from the woman and nodded to Daryl to help him flip the woman around, and his heart clenched at who it was.

 _Her._


	2. Feelings and fears

Beth

Groaning in pain, Beth slowly opens her eyes to a strange environment, a house- so... _pristine._ She then gasps at who sits next to her- Maggie. Her big sister Maggie, who she hadn't seen in so long, before the prison fell.

She looked so different. Her hair was longer, she had dark bags under her eyes, and she appeared... larger, of sorts.

Beth blinked and coughed, grabbing the attention of her sister. Maggie turned to face her and softly smiled, but Beth could see pain behind that smile. She thought her sister was dead for 8 months.

Beth grimaced at the look on her sisters face and went to stand up, but Maggie put a firm hand on her wrist.

"Beth..I, I don't know what to say. I know you want me to say I'm sorry I didn't look for you and I am, okay? I have felt guilty for that every day since but there was a point where I had to stop. I thought you were dead. For the last eight months, I thought you were dead, and I didn't know how to feel. Losing daddy and then losing you in such short amounts of time, I just couldn't handle that. I closed myself off for a while, from everyone and everything. I'm different now, I moved on, but now that you're here with me again all of those feelings have returned- the feelings I tried to push down for the last eight months and now those feelings are mixed with new ones. I just can't believe you're actually here right now.."

Beth listened to her sister ramble on, and her eyes welled with tears. She had moved on herself, but not completely. After losing so many people in her life at once, being abandoned, how was she supposed to just, _get over that_? She was alone, for how many months, but being with her sister at that very moment, she felt like she was at home again, like she hadn't been on her own for almost a year. She hadn't nearly been killed by walkers and people, or hadn't thought that all her family was dead. She felt like she was safe, and that was all she wanted.

She pulled her older sister into a hug and sniffled into her shoulder, trying to savour in the moment of actually holding someone she loved.

 _Maggie_

I still couldn't believe that Beth was actually back. It had been almost 8 months since I had seen her and the last time I saw her she was being carried out of a hospital by Daryl, dead. Or so I thought, at least. We buried her- we fucking buried her and here she was with her arms wrapped around me. How could this be real.. how could this be happening?

She wondered this to herself and rubbed her hand down her sisters back, letting out a breath she didn't know she was holding. This was all too much for her at that moment- she felt like she was going to pass out.

And just in time, she heard the front door open and saw Rick walk in, a concerned look on his face.

Maggie stood up from the couch and whispered to her sister that she would see her later, and with a scratchy voice Beth replied, " _Okay_ ," and scooted back on the couch, watching her sister walk through the door.

Rick walked into the house as Maggie walked past him and patted him on the shoulder, making his way to the kitchen.

He grabbed a glass from the cupboard above the sink and ran the water, a sigh leaving his lips.

He grabbed the glass and played it on the island, bending his elbows and putting his face into his hands. He had a rough day, and he didn't feel like this was going to make anything better.

Standing up and running his hand over his sweaty face, he made his way to the couch, passing the glass to the blonde girl sat there.

She took it and gulped down the water, Rick watching her intently, and she shivered under his gaze. How were things going to go back to normal if everyone looked at her like she was a ghost?

Since she had woken up, that's what she felt like. Maggie looked at her as if she wasn't real, now Rick was being the same, and she just prayed it wouldn't continue.

Beth could tell Rick had been through something, and recently too. He was moving around like something had happened, something bad. He was looking around like he was heartbroken- his eyes were rimmed red and puffy, and he was walking like a walker- slow and sluggish.

Beth wondered what had happened and was fighting herself if she was going to ask about it, but he decided against it. Instead, she kept her mouth shut and played with a loose thread on the cream coloured couch.

She heard footsteps approach her and she looked up at Rick, him holding his hand out. She passed him the now empty glass, a blush rising to her cheeks as their fingers lightly brushed.

Rick walked back to the kitchen and then walked back in the room, leaning against the door frame. He was dirty, very dirty, and he was extremely sweaty. He hadn't changed much since she saw him last, just had a _lot_ less facial hair and more grey on his head. As she analyzed him, he cleared his throat and she blushed once more.

"How are you? I mean, how are you feeling?"

Ricks voice was laced with concern and he sounded tired, but she was glad that he at least didn't think of her as anyone but who she was.

With her voice still scratchy, Beth replied, "I'm fine, just a bit tired and hungry, and my head hurts,"

Rick grimaced at that, and Beth didn't know if he just felt bad for hitting her on the head or because of what happened the last time they saw each other. She hoped it was the first one.

"I'm sorry for hitting you, I didn't know who you were, but you know we have to do what it takes, you must remember that,"

Beth nodded in understanding. She didn't remember everything from before but most of it was back. Every agonizing and painful memory.

Rick walked to the couch and took a seat next to her, sighing.

"So, there are a few people I know you want to see, and I think you're going to want to know where you are, but I don't want to overwhelm you, so how about some food?"

Beth's stomach grumbled at the idea of food, and she stood from the couch after Rick, following him into the kitchen.

"Where am I?" She asked inquisitively. This house, _mansion,_ was way too nice for the world they now lived in- it was like a page out of Architectural Digest.

"Alexandria. It's a safe zone. We've been here for about 7 months."

Beth nodded her head, and Rick went over to the fridge (the _working_ fridge) and pulled out some sort of meat, and grabbed other ingredients for spaghetti. Beth wondered how all of this was possible. This was the _apocalypse,_ how in the hell is he making her spaghetti?

As he cooked the food, Beth wandered around the house, taking in the scenery of the beautiful decor, nose sniffing at a smell she knew too well- smoke.

She wandered back to the kitchen, looking out a window, and she saw other houses in the distance, some nearly burned to the ground while others had flames still going. She gasped and turned to Rick to see him already watching her, a knowing look on his face. She knew him too well. He wasn't going to say anything any time soon.

Beth didn't say anything and took the now cooked food, eating it faster than her stomach could handle, giving her a stomach ache.

Rick walked into the dining room and sat across the table from her, thrumming his fingers on the table. Now she could _really_ take him in.

His hair was disheveled and greasy, long pieces falling into his eyes. His eyes still red and puffy, like he had been crying for days, and his clothes dirty and sweaty, some holes from what she assumed was embers.

"Rick, we need to talk, about this, all of this,"

Beth waved her hands around her head in exasperation, and Rick avoided her eyes. There was something he had to tell her, and she could tell he reallt didnt want to.

Instead, he stood from the table and started pacing, running his hands through his hair yet again. Rick then shook his head and started towards the door, before Beth yelled at him, emotion evident in her voice.

"Rick Grimes! Don't you fucking _dare._ I have been here for no more than what, 7 hours, and all that I have felt like is a ghost! You and Maggie have been looking at me like I'm not real since I woke up, and I'm not getting it! I know what you went through after me, okay? I know how you must have felt. How do you think I felt after my daddy died? After the prison fell? Like absolute shit, okay? I get you feeling like that but it doesn't mean you get to shut me out. I'm here, Rick. I'm alive, no matter what you saw, or what you did. I'm alive and I'm here, right now, and I need to know what has happened. I _need_ to, please,"

Rick blinked at her outburst and shook his head once more, getting angry and upset with himself.

About to leave again, Beth yelled out his name.

She started, "Rick! Tell me what has-" but she was cut off by the man himself.

"Carl is dead!"

And all she could hear was the thrumming of her heart.


	3. Embers and wine

Beth stared blankly at Rick, hoping to God that the words that just came out of his mouth weren't true. Carl wasn't dead, that couldn't be.

But then Beth thought to herself. She knew the kind of world she was living in. People died, and it happens often. Who else was dead that she knew before?

Rick ran his hand over his face and sniffled, but Beth didn't pay any mind to him. She just stood there, as rigid as a piece of stone, and her brain couldn't form any words to say.

She didn't know how to feel. She shouldn't have been surprised to hear it, considering the world they were living in, but still, she felt, broken.

She hadn't seen Carl since before the prison fell, and that was a while ago. She teared up thinking about the fun times they had together and even the times when they fought. He was like a brother to her and he was dead.

Beth sniffled and ran her hand over her arm, letting out a deep breath. Walking over to Rick slowly, she placed a hand on his bicep and he flinched away. She looked up at him to see new tears forming in his eyes, and her heart broke for him. He lost his wife and now his son, and who knew if Judith was even alive.

Beth grabbed his hand and pulled him into her, wrapping her small arms around his broad shoulders. He was taller than she remembered, but he still smelled the same. Like wood smoke and sweat, still with the disgustingly pungent smell of walker.

Rick cautiously placed his hands on the middle of her back, and put his chin on the top of her head. His heart was beating a million miles a minute, and he just hoped Beth couldn't hear it.

Rick was never a sappy person. Never one for hugs, or cuddling, or PDA of any sort. He was like Beth's father. He was a tough man with a heart of gold and he only let his guard down in front of people he loved or cared about.

And in that moment, Rick Grimes guard was down. This twenty or something year old woman was hugging him and he thought she was dead for the last eight months.

Rubbing her hands down his back, Beth pulled away and glanced up at him, a frown etched onto her face.

She could feel the emotion he was showing on his face. Grief. One she knew all too well in this world.

Rick looked back at her and half smiled, tears staining his cheeks, and Beth put her hand on his cheek, rubbing her thumb over his stubble. Hands still on her waist, Rick leaned his face into her hand, and closed his eyes at the contact.

The door bangs open, and Rick and Beth spring apart to see Daryl at the door, panting.

"You need to come outside. There's some people here who wanna see ya,"

Beth smiled and walked to the door with Rick hot on her heels, and she had both fear and happiness in her heart. Who was alive and who wasn't?

The duo followed Daryl out to the courtyard, Ricks hand resting on her shoulder. She was feeling so many emotions, but she could pinpoint the strongest one. Nervousness. It had been so long since she had seen her family, and the last time they saw her she was shot in the head, presumed dead.

Beth's family was better than any she could've asked for in a world like this. They treated her like a child before, but she was hoping that they would have a new faith in her. Faith that she could survive this world and she wasn't just another mouth to feed.

She wanted her family to see the strong woman she had become. Those months with Daryl, the time at Grady, loosing her daddy. Beth wasn't just a girl anymore, she was a woman, she had been through shit just like everyone else but the difference between her and them was that she could survive.

She could continue finding faith in herself and the idea that one day everyone would be okay. That they would all sit down and have a meal together, Maggie and Glenn with their son or daughter, Judith, Carol, and Sasha and Tyreese and everyone and just be happy. It wasn't stupid or naïve to think that way, that's just who she was. She wanted her family to see that. See that when it came down to it, she would protect them as they always had protected her, but that she was still that girl who liked to sing, who had faith in this fucked up world.

Beth ran her hand down her arm, letting air out of her nose as she felt the slightly raised scar there. It made her angry. How she could be that way only a few years ago. Trying to take her own life, not trying to beat this world. Beth hadn't realized yet, but she already had.

Continuing the walk down the short path across from Ricks house, Beth began to feel scared. She hadn't seen these people in ages and was worried they would bombard her or scare her. She didn't have all of her memory back yet but she was grateful for that- there were a lot of things she didn't want to remember.

She remembered her daddy's head on that grass. The blood down the front of his white shirt, instantly staining the fabric. The yell of her sister next to her, the sound of bullets ricocheting off of aluminum, and the anguish she felt. The smell of the prison burning, the smoke burning her lungs and making her stumble. The walkers in every direction, coming from everywhere, cutting her off from her family. Running away with Daryl, looking back only long enough to see the prison being swarmed, and her home destroyed.

Her nose burned, the smoke lingering in the air bothering her in more than one way. She still wondered how this was happening around them and that everyone was just acting normal. Then she thought that they were just being how she was when things didn't go well. Try to ignore them and hope that they will go away; it was never the case. Some of the houses around her almost burnt to the ground while some were still aflame, and others obnoxiously perfect. It did look like a literal apocalypse.

She scraped her feet against the cracked concrete as she walked, tears burning her eyes at the memories. She almost wished she could've chose the ones she remembered. Her daddy dying would've been off that list.

She remembered Rick though. She remembered growing feelings for him at the prison, even when Lori was still alive. She couldn't help it, he was handsome and strong and cared about everyone. Beth fell for him and she still remembered all of it. She still remembered those feelings.

They walked into the courtyard and Beth's stomach grew queasy at the sight of all the people. Was this everyone? Where was Glenn, or Sasha, or Noah?

She knew she wouldn't see everyone from before. Everyone couldn't make it, but she was still confused and upset.

Her sister approached her and put her hands on Beth's shoulders, glancing at the scar on her forehead. Beth loosed a piece of hair in her ponytail, hoping to cover up the scar; Maggie sighed.

She was brought over to a bench where there were people around, and her eyes stung with tears. So many people she recognized, so many she didn't, and so many missing.

She looked to her sister, and Maggie made a look that said she knew what she was wondering.

Maggie sighed and sat next to her sister. She grabbed her hand in hers, and ran her tongue along her lip.

"Glenn, he's gone. I- I know you loved him Beth, I did too, but he's gone, and I'm sorry. There's this group, they call themselves the Saviors. The leader is a real prick. Killed my husband ten feet away from me..." Maggie explained, getting angry. It was still very fresh. It hadn't happened that long before.

Beth couldn't believe that. Glenn was like a brother to her. And now her sister was pregnant, and the father was dead.

She had tears in her eyes, but blinked them away. She couldn't cry anymore, she was all cried out.

Sniffling, she placed her hand on her sisters shoulder. She could tell Maggie hadn't grieved. She was too worried with something, clearly. Her mind was too preoccupied to even think about it.

Beth smiled sadly as people she knew before came to say hello to her. It was weird seeing all of them, but also good. She knew there were people who were dead, but she was happy in that moment that these people weren't. She was happy that for that moment they could try even just a little to put aside the bullshit that they had all faced and just be there together.

Their company was the first step to Beth's healing, and she was the first step to their rebuilding of faith.

The day had continued as normal as it could have, minus the looks everyone was casting her. She fucking hated it. They were treating her like before, like she was some weak little China doll and she was not having it. She had to make them see who and what she had become.

One person didn't see her the way everyone else did, and for that she was eternally grateful. Rick Grimes didn't look at her like she was a frail little girl, but a warrior. Also like she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, but she tried to ignore that one- she had just come back to her family, she had enough feelings to worry about, let alone her misunderstood ones for the older man.

Rick came over to her house that night, a quiet one bedroom a few houses away from his, and Beth sipped on a glass of wine, the bottle given to her by her sister, insisting that she have it considering she was somewhere near legal age anyways and she couldn't have it.

She didn't like the taste, but the way it made her feel helped for the time being. She wasn't sure if the warm feeling in her stomach was from the alcohol or the man standing at the other end of the room, but she didn't care- she was already on her third glass.

That's why she didn't care when Rick sat next to her on the couch and grabbed her hand, linking their fingers together.

And that's why she didn't care when her body reacted differently than her sober self would, and she placed her face in the crook of his neck.


	4. Gardening and family dinner

Beth

The next few days were interesting between Beth and Rick. He looked at her often, and made no effort to hide it. There was an unmistakable tension between the two of them, but she couldn't figure out what it was. It was the same feeling every time she was around him. Her heart pounded and she felt like she was going to pass out. That may have been the concussion he gave her back in the woods, but she knew she should have been fine by then, so she really just tried to avoid him until she could somewhat make sense of what she was feeling.

So when he came over that day wanting to see her, she told Maggie to inform him that she was sick, and she didn't miss the confused glance her sister sent her way as she sent the older man back down the porch steps. She was sick, in a way, just not contagiously or… _actually._

So Beth busied herself for the next few days; cooking, cleaning, helping Maggie tend to her garden out back, always leaving when it was dark to return to her own house, hoping she wouldn't run into him. She needed time to herself so she could figure out what she was feeling. She was still trying to figure out all the shit in her head from returning and learning of the deaths of her family and friends, she couldn't even begin to try and understand the feelings she had for the man. Not yet, anyway.

Feelings were a complicated thing, and Beth was always good at expressing herself and how she felt, even when she probably should have just kept her mouth shut. It wasn't so easy nowadays. She was insecure, memories jumbled around in her head like astray puzzle pieces and she wasn't anywhere near remembering everything from her past.

There was so much she did remember, but there was also so many little details she couldn't grasp no matter how hard she tried. She was irritated, though, because she couldn't remember simple things like how lemons tasted, but she could feel her feelings for Rick like the sweater she wore. Always there and sometimes uncomfortable, itching at her.

It wasn't that Beth didn't want to think about how Rick made her feel, except… maybe it was. Rick was so many years older than her. She had to be maybe twenty at that point, and Rick had to be in his mid to late forties. When she looked at him though, she didn't see his age. She saw all the things she and everybody else have to overcome with the grace of his presence and knowledge.

Beth knew he was a good man and they were lucky to be with him for however long they had been. She didn't know when she started looking at him as anything but a leader, but she didn't really want to either. Every time she started thinking about him, she felt her stomach churn, and she felt sick with guilt. He was there to protect them all and help them all survive, that was the last thing she could do, especially with a man more than twice her age.

Beth brushed past Maggie as she walked into the backyard of her house, her sister nudging her on the shoulder as she walked past with a soil covered shovel in hand, other hand on her stomach, rubbing the material of her flannel softly. Beth wondered how Maggie was acting so normal after losing her husband, but thought that it was the way it was now, she had a job to to, and she could grieve when it was right.

She helped Maggie in the back with planting tomatoes and cucumbers, only stopping when her sister offered her a glass of lemonade, the sun high in the sky and sweat sticking to the blonde hair above her lip. She smiled gratefully at her, gulping the sweet liquid down as fast as it was handed to her, wiping her dirt covered hands on the tattered material of her jeans.

"Think we should make somethin' for supper? Invite Rick and some others over? I know it's been stressful on everybody lately and I think it'd be nice," Maggie said, across the backyard from Beth, stopping to glance at her with her hands on her knees, tomatoes resting next to her.

"Don't matter to me, but do ya even have stuff to make a supper?" Beth stopped what she was doing and looked quizzically at her sister, her palms resting flat on her thighs. She didn't miss how her heart skipped a beat at the mention of his name. She was doing a good job and avoiding him and if she had to sit across from him for hours at a time she was afraid she may explode.

Maggie looked into the sky and squinted, like she would find the answer up there, maybe thinking Glenn would somehow tell her, then smiled, turning to her sister.

"How about chicken and some potatoes or somethin'? We have a few chickens in the pens the other end of the zone and over to the right I have a few potatoes that should be just about ready," Maggie furrowed her brow at her sister, and Beth nodded her head in agreement, though she really would rather not. It's not that she didn't want people to come for supper because she did, she just didn't know how to act around him. Especially with the way he was looking at her for the last few days, like he was trying to tell her something through his eyes, and she didn't know how to feel about it.

The sisters continued on with their work, Maggie checking her watch to see that it was only thirty minutes past two, and they had plenty of time to finish the gardening and Beth could get herself ready while her sister went to get a couple chickens.

As Beth planted the last few seedlings for the tomatoes, she rose up and winced as the back of her head pounded suddenly, and she dug her nails into the denim on her thighs as her vision became spotty, realizing she hadn't eaten that day and she was out in the sun for the entire time. It was still foreign to her to actually eat.

On the road it was only an afterthought, to eat if you could, and if you had any food, but in the zone it was like their old life. Eat three meals a day, drink lots of liquids. She didn't know if she liked that. Going from her worst enemy being the undead to her worst case scenario in the zone being dehydrated or hungry.

It was weird, having nothing essentially to worry about. She still hadn't seen these so called "Saviors", the ones that killed her brother in law. She didn't want to, she thought. If she laid eyes on the fucker who killed him, she couldn't attest for what she would do to them. That's how she changed, from the little scared Beth Greene to the woman who would kill anyone who posed a threat to the people she loved. Losing her family and friends and nearly dying herself did that to her. Made her strong.

Beth and Maggie finished their work at quarter past 4, and Maggie left the small backyard to fetch the chickens, patting her sister on the shoulder and she walked past, white shirt dirty from the soil. Beth sighed as her older sister walked down the cobblestone path, and she took her hair out of its ponytail, shaking it, then grasping the golden locks in her small fingers, she ties it up again.

She grabbed the items from gardening that day, putting them into the small shed off to the right of the backyard. Placing the items in, she smiled at the sight of children playing across the yard, a toothless baby gripping to the fabric of her mothers shirt, and Beth's heart swelled at the thought of Judith. She really hoped she would be at the supper.

Running her hands under a stream of water from the tap in the kitchen, she looked out the window of the kitchen, the smoke and fire from the days before suddenly back in her memory. Who started them and why? Was it those people- the ones who killed Glenn? Sighing heavily, she dried her hands on a nearby cloth, gathering some pots and pans for the supper, praying that the night would go well.

Beth smiled as the smell of chicken started to waft through the house, the sound of Maggie's humming a familiar tune as she sat in the tub off the dining room, shaving her legs so she could wear a dress. She didn't want to wear a dress, but Maggie insisted on dressing up, saying that her usual jeans and sweater wouldn't cut it. Beth groaned at her sister, Maggie just glaring and pointing at the bathroom door, smiling when her sister huffed and walked in.

Beth was beyond stressed with all of the last few days events, so without thinking, she dug the razor into her skin above her knee, hissing when she gave herself a small cut, the mercury substance running down her leg and down the drain, swirling a pattern with the soap suds.

She sighed at her foolishness and climbed out of the tub as she finished, grabbing a white fluffy towel. The white of the towel stained slightly in a few spots, Beth huffed and placed it in the hamper off to the corner, picking up the dress her sister put out for her, admiring the fabric. It had been a long time since she had worn a dress, the clothing not even close to practical in the world they lived in. It had been too long, she thought. She could finally feel feminine for a night. Feel more… normal.

Getting dressed at a casual pace, she padded out to the kitchen where her sister stood at the island, grabbing an apple from the fruit tray, taking a bite of the crisp yield.

Maggie slapped her lightly on the arm and chastised her, telling her supper would only be ready in an hour. Beth grinned as she took another bite of the fruit, running her hand over her mouth as she swallowed. It had been so long since she had fruit that she forgot what it tasted like.

Knowing supper would still be a while cooking, she went to the largest room in the house, the family room, to play a couple songs on the grand piano. It had been a while since she played, but she knew that once her fingers hit those keys, it would all come back to her. That's one thing she was grateful she remembered, because when times were toughest and she didn't know where to turn, music was her greatest supporter.

Smoothing the back of her dress, she sat on the light colored oak bench, blinking as she opened the piano, stretching her fingers. She loved playing, singing, getting lost in the melody. She felt like she was in her own world; a way to escape the hell for a little while.

Pressing down onto some keys, she began to play a song that felt very familiar to her. A song that her momma used to sing to her when they were together, or played in the car during one of their many roads trips. She continued to play for a while until she got to her favorite song, and had no problem remembering the keys;

 _They hung a sign up in our town_

 _"If you live it up, you won't live it down"_

 _So she left Monte Rio, son_

 _Just like a bullet leaves a gun_

 _With her charcoal eyes and Monroe hips_

 _She went and took that California trip_

 _Oh, the moon was gold, her hair like wind_

 _Said, "don't look back, just come on, Jim"_

 _Oh, you got to hold on, hold on_

 _You gotta hold on_

 _Take my hand, I'm standing right here, you gotta hold on_

 _Well, he gave her a dimestore watch_

 _And a ring made from a spoon_

 _Everyone's looking for someone to blame_

 _When you share my bed, you share my name_

 _Well, go ahead and call the cops_

 _You don't meet nice girls in coffee shops_

 _She said, "baby, I still love you"_

 _Sometimes there's nothin' left to do_

 _Oh, but you got to hold on, hold on_

 _Babe, you gotta hold on and take my hand_

 _I'm standing right here, you gotta hold on_

 _Well, God bless your crooked little heart_

 _St. Louis got the best of me_

 _I miss your broken China voice_

 _How I wish you were still here with me_

 _Oh, you build it up, you wreck it down_

 _Then you burn your mansion to the ground_

 _Oh, there's nothing left to keep you here_

 _But when you're falling behind in this big blue world_

 _Oh, you've got to hold on, hold on_

 _Babe, you gotta hold on_

 _Take my hand, I'm standing right here, you gotta hold on_

 _Down by the Riverside motel_

 _It's ten below and falling_

 _By a ninety-nine cent store_

 _She closed her eyes and started swaying_

 _But it's so hard to dance that way_

 _When it's cold and there's no music_

 _Oh, your old hometown's so far away_

 _But inside your head there's a record that's playing_

 _A song called "Hold On", hold on_

 _Babe, you gotta hold on_

 _Take my hand, I'm standing right there, you gotta hold on_

 _You gotta hold on, hold on_

 _Babe, you gotta hold on_

 _Take my hand, I'm standing right there, you gotta hold on_

 _You gotta hold on, hold on_

 _Babe, you gotta hold on_

 _And take my hand, I'm standing right here, you gotta hold on_

 _You gotta hold on, hold on_

 _Babe, you gotta hold on_

 _And take my hand, I'm standing right here, you gotta hold on_

 _You gotta hold on_

 _You gotta hold on_

 _You gotta hold on_

 _You gotta hold on_

 _You gotta hold on, baby_

 _You gotta hold on, girl_

 _You gotta hold on_

 _You gotta hold on_

Blinking away tears, she looked to see Maggie stood at the door, and she smiled at her sister.

"C'mon Bethy, suppers just about done, everyone's getting' here any minute," her sister looked to her with a sad look in her eye, knowing the affect that song had on her sister. It was her mommas favourite song. Daddy's too, she thought.

She walked into the kitchen to see a few people littered about, and some walking through the door. She saw Rick as he saw her, and she walked to the front door to greet her family and friends as they arrived, swallowing the lump that rose in her throat. Smiling kindly at them all, she escorted them to the supper table and sat down when she was aware that everyone had made it, and waited, smiling large as her sister tapped a spoon onto the rim of a wine glass.

"I just wanna thank y'all for comin'. I know we don't do these very often but I felt that this was necessary. We have been through so much this last few months and I just need all y'all to know how much I appreciate everythin' you do for me and for our us. Alexandria couldn't be a what it is without you leaders, and I love all of y'all so much," Maggie said with tearful eyes, wishing Glenn was there at there at the table, and Beth smiled as everyone else did, Tara rubbing Maggie's hand as she smiled at her.

"Okay then let's eat, I'm hungry as shit," Daryl spoke to break the silence, and everyone laughed at his behaviour. Typical Daryl. Couldn't stand sappy shit.

They ate their meal slow and through many of glasses of wine, Beth refusing because of a slight headache she had, maybe because of her or the way Rick was looking at her from across the table. He was looking at her like she was a piece of meat, and she knew it was the alcohol. She had never encountered Rick Grimes drunk but she didn't want to.

Beth excused herself to go to the washroom, walking in to the small room and closing the door behind her; she washed her face off with some cool water and dug her nails into the porcelain sink, stretching her neck. Turning around to leave, she opened the door slowly before it was opened abruptly, Beth letting out a little squeal as she came face to face with Rick.

Blushing furiously, Beth went to go around him, but he placed his large hand on her forearm, stopping her. Looking from his fingers curled around her skin to his eyes, she visibly gulped. The man made her fucking nervous. Rick ran his tongue over his bottom lip as he took in her appearance, and she felt her heart race at the situation; they didn't even say anything to each other, just looks and stares that spoke for themselves.

Looking into her eyes, Rick raised his other hand and brought it to Beth's cheek, cupping it. Running his thumb over the pink scar resting on her cheek bone, he furrowed his brow at the sight. She had scars, too many of them, but she still looked like an angel.

Rick leaned in closer to Beth, and at that point she thought she was going into cardiac arrest. She knew it wasn't obvious, but her heart was pounding out of her chest and her palms were sweating like crazy. Her breath hitched in her throat as he got closer to her, and before he could place his lips upon hers, Maggie was calling for her sister, and Beth was gone.


End file.
